Royden

Aurora, Ontario

Our latest Healthy Kids Ambassador is Royden, a father of two, resident of Aurora and active member of Lester B. Pearson P.S.'s Healthy Schools Committee. He can be seen zipping around town on his bike all year round. Over the past six years, he's seen many positive changes within the school including filtered water dispensers to reduce the use of bottled water and juice boxes and a new healthy snack program. We asked Royden a few questions about encouraging healthy eating and active living.

Kathleen:

Why is it important for you to stay healthy and active?

Royden:

Just as it’s hard to appreciate beautiful scenery when looking through a dirty window that is not maintained and worn down with age, it is my belief that to enjoy anything in life, you first need to be physically and mentally healthy.

Kathleen:

What are some of your favourite ways to be active with your family?

Royden:

We enjoy going for long walks and bike rides. The Town of Aurora has around 60 kilometres of trails and we have probably ridden most of them. We also do something called a park ride, where we ride our bikes around different parks in town and the kids get to make new friends at each park. We cover about 3 or 4 parks on each ride, in about the time it takes to watch a movie. In the winter, we go tobogganing and spend hours in the snow. We also watch very little TV, and attend a lot of educational and fun activities at the library and almost always walk or bike there.

Kathleen:

Do you and your kids enjoy cooking together? What are some of your favourite healthy things to make together?

Royden:

We take the kids grocery shopping and cook together. I bake my own bread at home and last summer my son saw zucchini on sale and remembered seeing a zucchini bread recipe. We went home and made zucchini bread, and my son also added some leftover chocolate we had. I helped him bake it in the oven, and it turned out fantastic. The Aurora Family Leisure Center and Healthy Kids also offered a family cooking class, which we’ve attended. This has helped boost their confidence in the kitchen and now they can do everything from start to finish, including setting the oven and checking if the cake is ready with a toothpick. My son loves making banana ice cream. It’s both his favorite and the healthiest ice cream I've ever seen because it is made with only bananas.

Kathleen:

What kinds of positive changes do you hope to see in your community?

Royden:

There is definitely room for improvement in the bike commuting area. There is some talk about making Aurora more bike commuter friendly, however, until that happens, I have my kids ride their bikes on the sidewalks instead of the road while ensuring that they are aware that pedestrians have right of way on the sidewalks. I would like to see more bike paths and accessible routes for kids to get to schools and for people to get to shopping centres. Additional bike parking in public places such as the library would also be wonderful because during the summer the one bike rack they have gets full very quickly. I'm hopeful that town initiatives to make Aurora more active and to encourage bike commuting will bear fruit in the coming years.